Eiji Kikumaru
Background Kikumaru is a 3rd Year at Seigaku and a regular of the Tennis Club in Prince of Tennis. Appearance Kikumaru has vivid red hair with the parting line in the center of his head and has a plaster on his right cheek. His eyes are brown in the manga, but dark blue in the anime. When he was in his 1st year, he had a plaster on his nose instead. Personality He is a friendly, sweet-tempered and outgoing character and the youngest of a large family. So unlike most of the characters, Eiji is usually referred to by his given name. Eiji acts like a cat, which shows in his acrobatics and how he likes to add a "Nya" (the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat's meow) at the end of his sentences. This is especially evident in the chibi episodes where in the TeniPuri Family stories he is the family's pet cat. Eiji Kikumaru is a third year student at Seigaku. He is in the same class as Shūsuke Fuji and also happens to be one of his good friends. He is also shown to be very playful, as proven when he helps Tomo and Sakuno cheer for Ryoma during his match against Reiji Shinjō using a special chant and in Episode 91, when he impresses the neighborhood kids with his acrobatic skills on Rokkaku's playground. When playing games, most character's concentration are broken up by attention and pressure. But Eiji loves the attention and actually focuses much more when he's being cheered on. Though the Golden Pair seldom play without each other, Eiji has been paired with his friend and teammate Shūsuke Fuji to form the "Dream Pair", as well as forming a makeshift Golden Pair with Takeshi Momoshiro. In the Nationals story arc of the manga, Eiji plays singles after Oishi gave his spot to a returning Tezuka (Echizen in the anime). He says that if Oishi will not be his partner, that he refuses to play doubles anymore. After his first match against Higa Middle School, however, he proclaims that playing singles tennis is "too lonely," and the Golden Pair becomes a team again. Eiji's main weakness was his lack of stamina, which he overcomes through hard work and training later on in the series. His main rival is Hyōtei Gakuen's Gakuto Mukahi, another acrobatic player who is extremely light and surpasses him in acrobatic play. Another weakness of Kikumaru is the slow speed at which he notices things. He does not pick up on things as easily as say, Tezuka or Fuji. Someone would have to explain to him what is going on or what they have noticed which he has not. This weakness can have its disadvantages, which is mainly losing in a match. Although Oishi and Eiji get along very well and the two together form the famous "Golden Pair," they do have their disagreements. When Momoshiro was dropped from the Regulars and stopped attending practice, Eiji was making jokes that Oishi found insensitive. Eiji then made fun of the fact that Oishi's shirt was inside out causing the co-captain to snap and shove Eiji, pushing him across the courts. The Golden Pair stopped talking to each other until Momoshiro returned to team practices. In doubles, although it looks as if Eiji is the one who controls the flow of the doubles matches when the audience sees the "Golden Pair" play (due to his flashy style and the fact that Eiji is the one who gets the ball the most), people often mistake him as the game maker. However, Oishi is the game maker. In their game against Yamabuki, Eiji asks Oishi if they can start to attack their opponents; by doing so, it indicates that Oishi is the game maker in their combination (Eiji likes to play at the net while letting Oishi control the flow of the game). Eventually, Eiji matures as a doubles player during his Doubles 2 match with Momoshiro against Hyōtei, when Eiji learns that being a game maker is more difficult than he realized and appreciates Oishi's role in their partnership. During the match against Hyōtei Gakuen he realizes as Momoshiro's senpai, he must learn to be the game maker and give up his usual net play, in order to defeat Hyōtei and help Momoshiro control the flow of the game. Eiji calls Ryoma "o-chibi", "little guy" , while the others call him Echizen or Ryoma. He also likes to hug Ryoma the most and sometimes likes to hang off him while watching a match. Momoshiro seems to adopt this movement, so that they simultaneously jump on Ryoma. During the matches against the American team, Eiji seems to be always having a hold on Ryoma in one way or another. History He is part of Seigaku's "Golden Pair" along with Oishi Shūichiro. Using his acrobatic play he can return almost any ball, even those that seem out of human reach. Eiji is also known to have the sharpest vision on the team, with an exceptional talent for seeing moving objects. The only other member of his team to have this talent is Ryoma Echizen. This proves to be both a strength and a weakness, especially when matched against St. Rudolph's team captain Akazawa. Other than his well known style of acrobatic play, he has his own signature smash move called "Kikumaru Beam", which is essentially a very high behind-the-back smash that is launched either at the corner of the opponent's court, or directly at the opponent. Two Years Prior To The Storyline The Golden Pair met in their first year at Seigaku. In the anime, Eiji was a flashy singles player and found Oishi's play style boring. When he challenged Oishi to a match, he lost and couldn't figure it out. Retreating to the green bins at the park - a place the Golden Pair always go to when they need to think things over after losing a match - he saw Oishi practicing there. Eiji then told Oishi he would play doubles with him until he was able to defeat Oishi at tennis. In the manga, Eiji met Oishi by bumping into him in his first day of school after Shūsuke told Eiji that Oishi was a nice person, then developed quickly a strong admiration towards him (he even defended Oishi when he found some teammates spreading ill rumors about him), and finally asked Oishi to be his partner. In the anime, when Eiji is first introduced, he launches into a full description of himself. "My name is Kikumaru Eiji. I am twelve years old. I was born on the 28th of November. My blood type is A. I have a grandma, grandpa, Mother, Father and two older brothers and two older sisters...." Regionals During their match against Niō Masaharu and Yagyū Hiroshi from Rikkaidai Fuzoku, Kikumaru sustains a minor concussion from a ball hit by Niō, who was at the time pretending to be Yagyū. He is temporarily knocked unconscious from the ball to the face. As he is being carried away by a stretcher to be rushed to the hospital, Kikumaru remembers how he had become Oishi's Doubles partner and the promise they had made together. Remembering those times causes him to wake up and flip off the stretcher to continue the match. He and Oishi are later shocked to learn that Niō and Yagyū had been pretending to be each other the whole time and that Niō was also capable of using Yagyū's Laser Beam. Kikumaru and Oishi use their newest formation, Oishi's Territory, to counter the two Laser Beams from Niō and Yagyū. They ultimately lose the match at 4-6. After Oishi gives up his spot prior to the Nationals and temporarily retires, Eiji is left without a partner. He swears that he'll never play doubles again if not with Oishi, therefore he starts a very rigorous training to overcome his flaws as a player and prove to Oishi that he's not a burden. Regional Select Invitationals Camp Oshitari Yushi along with several other players from the Kanto Region accepts an invitation to the Junior Kanto Regional Select Camp. He trains with several other players there and is amongst the Eight players selected to represent the Junior Kanto Japan region against the Junior West Coast USA region. He is put into Hanamura-Sensei's group along with his captain Atobe Keigo and Kabaji Munehiro. Regional Select Invitationals Kikumaru plays in Doubles 1 with Yushi for the Junior Kanto Select team against Terry Griffey and Tom Griffey of the Junior West Coast USA team. They ended up losing the tight match 7-5. However Kanto Region Japan Juniors come out as victors and win with 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. Nationals In Seigaku's first match against Higa Chuu, he plays in the Singles 2 spot against Yūjirō Kai, and eventually wins 7-6. During the match against Hyōtei, Eiji and Oishi are back as a doubles pair and even play for their last doubles match against Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku's Marui/Kuwahara pair. Prior To U-17 Camp Kikumaru and the rest of the Seigaku tennis club are invited to train with Shitenhoji in Osaka at the school ground. The training session was to help prepare the 2nd and 1st years get ready to become regulars once the 3rd years leave. Seigaku were meant to have a match against Shitenhoji without any 3rd years. Momoshiro Takeshi and Kaido Kaoru the next vice-captain and captain of the club respectively panicked that it would be impossible to do well without Ryoma, and can only look on when Momoshiro and Kaido deal with things incorrectly as the next vice-captains and captains of the club respectively. Eventually, the two realize that they need to be fair to the rest of the 2nd years and 1st years who arent as good as them which is helped by the arrival of Echizen who comes halfway during the the training session. U-17 Camp After the Nationals , the Seigaku regulars, along with several other middle school tennis players, are invited to the U-17 camp. Which for the first time, allowed Middle Schoolers to compete for Representative places along with High Schoolers. Kikumaru like all the 50 middle schoolers, was able to obtain a ball that fell from the helicopter where the conditions were those without a ball must go home. They are all tricked into participating tiebreaker-style Singles matches with the partner of their choice, with Eiji being Oishi. Eiji was at match point 6-2 when he started to double-fault purposely, then started to play seriously after a reprimandation from his partner. Eiji goes on to win the match 7-4, but requests Oishi to leave his racket behind so he also would not be left out of the U-17 camp. In the anime, during Ryoma, Kenya, and Kei's special mission for Coach Nyudo, Eiji wakes up after Kei causes the alarm system to sound after running through the lasers. He is confused as to why the alarm was sounding, but they never find out that it was because of their fellow middle schoolers. Team Shuffle Kikumaru looks on, with close friend and fellow 6th Court member, Fuji Shusuke, as part of the large audience made by the rest of the Camp that watches the Team Shuffle between 5th Court and 3rd Court where the 5th Court became victors and swapped places with the latter. Later on, he is reunited with Oishi. The middle schoolers then get involved in a massive pillow fight upon the return of the middle schoolers that lost their tie-break games. U-17 Camp Revolution Eiji is then present at the camp for the return of the Top 10 and the shock upset news that No.s 11-19 have all been replaced by Middle Schoolers. Genius 10 Challenge They were seen giving each other confused glances along with other middle school Doubles Specialists before the first match against the top ten first stringers- Super High School Double Specialists, No. 10 Juzaburō Mūri and No. 9 Tsukimitsu Ochi, indicating that they didnt know which Middle Schoolers were going to pair up and take on the High Schoolers in the match, and like the rest of the camp is surprised to see Atobe stepping up with Nio as the pair to take them on Kikumaru is present with the rest of the camp after Atobe/Niou pair bt Mouri/Ochi pair, Duke bt Ishida and Kimijima/Tohno win against Marui/Kite. Tennis Record Official Middle School Tournaments *'NOTE-1 '''The match against Midoriyama only took place in the manga, while Jōsei Shōnan's match existed only in the anime. Seigaku Ranking Matches Unofficial Matches U-17 Camp Results *'NOTE-1 In the Manga, Eiji won with the score 7-4, while in the anime, he won with a score of 8-6. Playing Style and Techniques Eiji is a serve-and-volleyer, as well as one of the most vibrant and flashy characters. He is mostly renowned for his acrobatic play and his upbeat personality. He is, by nature, a doubles tennis player, but he has shown that he is a more than capable singles player if needed. In doubles, when Eiji's up at the net he usually controls the game. With Oishi at the baseline, this pair can make plays that earns them the title of the "Golden Pair". In the beginning of the series, Eiji's stamina (or rather, the lack of) was his biggest weakness. During the St.Rudolph match against the Akazawa/Kaneda pair, it got to the point where Eiji had to stand still for 2 games to recover his stamina, and it still wasn't enough to keep him going for the rest of the game. However, by playing doubles with Momo and Fuji, as well as self-training himself in a low-oxygen area, he was able to not only overcome his weakness but also mature enough to become stronger than Oishi. ;Acrobatic Play (アクロバティックプレイ) Not just for flash, Eiji's flexible body allows him to reach balls with a touch of flair that few can replicate. His graceful diving volleys and flips astonish the spectators and often gets grudging praise from his opponents. ;Australian Formation (オーストラリアン・フォーメーション)' A specialty formation Oishi and his double's partner Eiji Kikumaru perform. It involves standing directly on the center line and confusing the opponents as to which way each player will move when the ball is placed into the opposing court. It requires extreme knowledge of one's double's partner. ;'Motion Vision' Eiji's eyes are so sharp that he can even catch the minute movements of a ball in motion. This is first shown after Inui is off the regulars, and becomes the team's trainer. During the training session, Eiji's vision is commented on by his fellow teammates. Though this ability has been used against him (see the doubles match against St. Rudolph's Yoshirō Akazawa and Ichirō Kaneda), it is definitely a plus as it allows Eiji to react faster and keep up his acrobatic play, and as an observer he can see the ball and mention details such as when Ryoma plays against Jōsei Shonan's Reiji Shinjō (anime only). Also, it is shown when Ryoma plays against Fuji in a practice match. ;Kikumaru Beam (菊丸ビーム) The Kikumaru Beam is a sharp volley that is hit in the air by Eiji with his right hand on the backhand side of his body, pinpointing the ball to the place where the opponents are not standing. It is usually depicted as a backhand smash, but has been shown as a volley. ;Moon Volley Though this is Oishi's move, Eiji uses the topspin lob volley to both help Momoshiro and himself to both mature and gain the flow of the match during the game against Hyōtei Gakuen Doubles 2, though he didn't hit it at the last line as Oishi did. ;Kikumaru Bazooka (菊丸バズーカ) Eiji spins high up in the air and fires off a powerful ground-stroke while also shouting out "Kikumaru Bazooka!" Sometimes depicted as a smash. 'Seal Step (印のステップ)' Eiji uses his natural flexibility and speed to move from one location to a new one the moment the opponent's eyes leave his first location. This gives the opponent the impression that there are two of him for a doppelganger type effect. The anime exaggerates this more than the manga giving Eiji the ability to high five and hug his doppelganger making it slightly supernatural. Where as in the manga it is all about Eiji using his speed at the right moments for an illusion as is revealed during the match against Saeki Kojirō and Itsuki Marehiko of Rokkaku. In the anime, he first used this in a 3 on 1 practice match against his teammates before the Kantō finals. In the manga, he reveals this during the Doubles 1 match against Rokkaku. 'Synchronization (同調)' When playing in the nationals with Oishi as his doubles 1 partner, they become fully synchronized and moved as if they were one; breathing as one and knowing exactly what their partner's next move would be. It was said that doubles players could not go to the top of the pros without 'synchronization'. He and Oishi can now go into 'synchro' willingly. Personal Information *Height: 171cm. *Weight: 52kg. *Blood Type: A. *Horoscope Sign: Sagittarius *Hobby: Strolling past pet shop, brushing teeth *Family Composition: Grandfather, Grandmother, Father, Mother, Elder Brother, Elder Brother, Elder Sister, Elder Sister, Parrot *Father's Occupation: Company employee (Newspaper reporter) *Spends Allowance On: Funds for buying rare sneakers *Motto: Catnip *Elementary school: Hikarigaoka Elementary School *Best subject: Japanese History *Worse subject: English *Committee: None *Most often visited spot in school: Gymnasium *Favorite color: Red *Favorite food: Soft omelette, tender fried prawns, shaved ice *Favoite movie: Anime, Fantasy *Favorite book: Idol magazines *Favorite music: J-Pop *Favorite type: A cheerful girl willing to laugh together with him in his presence *Favorite Date spot: Amusement park *Most wanted item now: A new knitted hat *Daily routine: Fighting over TV channel with brothers *Dislikes/bad at: Going to the toilet at night *Special skills aside tennis: Cooking, fly-swatting, collecting bugs *Shoes: WILSON (Slash DTmid). *Racket: DUNLOP (REVELATION PRO TOUR SERIES 90). *Favorite line: "Zannen, Munen, Mata Raishuu" meaning "Too bad, no regrets, see you next week!" Relationships '''Oishi Syuchiro' - Eiji and Oishi are best friends and often playing doubles together as the "Golden Pair" thoughout the years Oishi and Eiji spend more time with each other more than the other members of the team, whenever playing tennis or not the two pairs are never apart. Fuji Shusuke - Eiji and Fuji are in the same class and there also seatmates, Eiji and Fuji ociasonially play doubles together, aside his friendship with Oishi, Eiji also shares a strong friendship with Fuji. Other seniors (Tezuka, Inui and Kawamura) - Eiji shares a common friendship with his fellow 3rd year regulars even doesn't talk to Tezuka every often, much to Tezuka's strictness as the captain, Eiji ociasionally joins Inui in stalking his teammates specially Ryoma and judges his bad relationship with the girls who are intrested in him. Eiji has a good friendship with Kawamura despite when he changes personally he enjoys the sushi in Kawamura's sushi. Momoshiro and Kaidoh- Eiji is very close to his two 2nd year teammates even though they both fight a lot he cares for them both trying to keep them from fighting so much. Eiji is also very close to Momoshiro ociasonially treating him and Ryoma after practice. Ryoma Echizen - Eiji really love his 1st year teammate often calling him "ochibi" Eiji usually seen hugging and cudling Ryoma tightly as much to Ryoma's annoyance, despite the occiasonal suffocating hugs, Ryoma is vey close to Eiji and Eiji ocasionally treats him and Momoshiro even Ryoma and Momo takes advantage of him sometimes. Daily School Life *05:50 - Wakes up because his older brother wakes him up *06:00 - His turn to make breakfast *06:50 - Goes to school. Morning practice *08:40 - First Period: Art *09:40 - Second Period: Society/Japanese History *11:00 - Third Period: Physical Education; Basketball *12:00 - Fourth Period: Mathematics 3 *12:50 - Lunch break. Eats homemade bento together with Oishi in Oishi's classroom *13:20 - Fifth Period: Science 3/ Chemistry *14:20 - Sixth Period: English/GRammar *15:20 - Supplementary English *16:00 - Independent practice, Coaches the underclassmen *17:30 - After buying things for dinner, returns home *18:00 - Helps with dinner *19:00 -Gaming (One hour every day) *20:30 - Goes out for an aimless stroll in the evening *22:00 - Returns home, takes a bath, watches drama or variety shows *23:30 - Goes to sleep Note from Fuji Shuusuke: Speaking of Eiji, he dozed off in class and was scolded by the teacher. Of course, in Class 6, Eiji is also the mood maker. Note from Ryoma: He has stamina now. Now now, not too bad. Really, he's becoming more and more like a cat. Tennis Bag Content *'Writing implements' Just in case something happens, he carries these writing implements around. The probability of their usage is quite low. *'Dental set' In order to constantly keep his teeth white and shiny, he always has this dental set handy. *'Snacks' He gets hungry after exercising, so on days with club activities, he almost always brings snacks. *'MP3 player' To enjoy himself on his way to school, it's music appreciation! It's listening to music on the forefront of fashion! *'Hair wax' He quickly restores his messy hair that's due to intense exercising with his favorite hair wax. *'Hair brush' When he fixes his hair, it's used with his hair wax! Due to his art of dexterity, he is able to set it in approximately 3 minutes. *'Adhesives' Tt's a mystery as to why he always has it affixed to his cheek... *'Trump (playing cards)' He plays with everyone during club activities, and he brings it to show off a trick he had learned. Trivia *There is a grand total of eleven members in the household. His name, however, means 'excellent second son'. *Eiji has been shown to be quite popular in the Prince of Tennis series. He came in 3rd place in the first poll, and repeated that feat in the second one. He then came in 8th in the third poll, and 11th in the fourth. *Eiji doesn't like unresponsive people as shown in episode 110 when he plays against Kabaji. *For the live-action adaptation film of The Prince of Tennis, Tenimyu actor Osamu Adachi portrays Eiji. In The Prince of Tennis Musicals, Eiji is portrayed by actors Yamazaki Ichitaro (2003-2004), Takashi Nagayama (2003-2005), Osamu Adachi (2005-2006), Kōji Seto (2006-2007), Kyōsuke Hamao (2007-2009), Shōta Takazaki (2008-2010), and Yuta Koseki (2011-present). In the Philippine Dubbed version a college student dubbed his voice, Neil Bayawa. *Eiji is the very first person in the anime (in the manga, it is Kaidoh Kaoru) in the Seigaku team to have tasted Inui's concoctions. Category:Characters Category:Tennis Player Category:Seigaku Tennis Club Member Category:Middle Schooler Category:3rd Year Middle School Category:U-17 Camp Category:Serve and Volley Category:Right-Handed Category:Tokyo Players Category:Kanto Players Category:Has an episode named after them Category:Doubles Specialists Category:Kanto Junior Select Team Category:2nd Stringers